Another poor defensive night. Way too many easy baskets for this team to pull out wins on the road. Tracy McGrady had a pretty good game but I still think he is holding back or hurting still. He is having good games - but it still looks like he is capable of a lot more. I would say during most of the game, he plays at or around 80% of his potential. McGrady does hit a hot streak or two but nothing like last year. I thought it was just a slow start but it seems to be lingering on this year. He played great in the Olympic qualifying and I really thought he would started out the year strong. The rest of the team is just not playing defense. It is very simple. Rod Strickland, in the starting lineup, at least had better control of the offense and could distribute the ball more. The entire team also seems to respond better with Strickland running the team. I really think Tyronn Lue should move back to the bench.
Keith Bogans @ESPN" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3746" target="_blank">Keith Bogans started in place of Gordan Giricek. Giricek has not been providing much help as of late and teams are attacking his defense. I like having Bogans in the starting lineup because he will make a great role player for this team. He knows what his job is night in and night out. Bogans is a solid player with no fear of anyone on the floor. I wish the kids coming out of high school could see what 4 years of college can do for basketball fundamentals.
Until we get rid of the soft defense and the players start playing with NBA caliber effort, this team is going nowhere fast. Either we need to make a change for some tougher players or we need our guys to get an attitude adjustment. As much as I hate to say it, I really want to see someone on this team blowup and get in a fight sometime in the next 5 games. Show the fans that you are not soft and you do want to play. Do something. Don't just stand there.
2 Comments on "Game Notes - Memphis"
Strickland provided a little spark to our team but that quickly dwindled which is why Lue is back in the linuep. Lue dished out 8 assists so maybe he learned a little from Rod. Lue is also offensively capable, making many open and even tough shots. He is quick and always ready to push the ball up the floor. Keith Bogans is a little more active on defense then Giricek. Offensively I haven't seen Bogans enough but it looks like he is a more aggressive player and has an outside touch. He is a Great rebounder for his size and if every Magic player had his passion and effort they would win a lot more games. For now it was a good move to move Bogans into starting linuep. You know I was thinking the same thing. Drew or Declercq should get in a huge fight or something and show us some passion and anger. Maybe instead of letting a layup through with out any defense they should pummel the guy into the ground. Oh and you seem to forget Hunter who only played 12 minutes but got more blocks then anyone on our team with 3. He shouldn't be starting simply because he isn't effective offensively but damn he should be getting much more minutes simply because he is our best shot blocker. Teams often play their best shot blocker a lot but Orlando doesn't seem to like playing defense.
Well, I already replied on the other thread with New York - so you can see my response there.